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Monday, November 19, 2012

Tightening

How cute is that little one? He's one of my three new second cousins that I met this weekend.

We made it home safe and sound last night. I wish I could say the same for my luggage, which did not arrive as expected. I was pretty nervous about my luggage not arriving because I have some irreplaceable family keepsakes in that luggage but luckily I got it all back safe and sound. My camera, makeup, and toiletries were all packed in the suitcase as well, so pictures weren't an option this morning.

It's probably better that way, because I am not feeling up to par physically right now. I don't get to go to Germany often, so when I do, I gorge on all of the food. I definitely am not feeling too great about physical appearances at the moment. My family is traveling to Gulf Shores for Christmas, so I have 5 weeks to "tighten" it up.

To say I've been trying to lose weight most of the last 15 years wouldn't be an exaggeration. I can't really think of a time where I was content with how my body looked. It mostly doesn't bother me too much because I know that physically I'm healthy. I ran a half marathon a few months ago, I can run up stairs without feeling like I'm dying, I don't eat a lot of fast food. In high school I ran cross country and when I was still in college, marching band kept me really really active. Since then, I've somewhat lost the motivation, especially since I no longer have the scariest 75 year old yelling at me to push myself.

I think beyond the exercise aspect, food is really what does me in. It's not necessarily what I'm eating, but how much. I hate the feeling of being hungry. If you asked Chris what he disliked the most about me, I bet you he would say that I get really grumpy when I'm hungry. I get really possesive about my portions, and more is always better in my stomach's opinion.

To be successful in a quest to feel good about myself physically, I need to change things. The first part is exercising. I like to sweat, I like to "feel the burn", but I'm also lazy and will look for any excuse to not work out. Exercise needs to be a part of my routine, something that I can't back out of. My plan is to do Jillian Micheal's 30 Day Shred Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings before work. It only requires getting up 35 minutes earlier, and then it's done. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I'm going to either go to the gym or to pilates (thanks Groupon!). Devoting 150 minutes a week to exercise is 1% of the week. I think I can handle that.

As far as food goes, in the past calorie tracking has really worked for me. I use the Calorie Counter and stick between 1500 -1800 calories. I always think how much that is, but when I total everything I eat, I see how easily the calories add up. Like clothing budgetting, when I have a set amount I'm supposed to stick to, I think more about what I'm about to eat. When I look at my meal calorie amounts, snacks and lunch (which is often times purchased at the work cafeteria) add the most to my daily caloric intake. I make the same 300 calorie breakfast sandwich every morning, and Chris and I make pretty healthy dinners (lots of fish, chicken and vegetables) so snacks and lunch need an overhaul. I plan on bringing more lunches to work (sandwiches, veggies, leftovers from dinner) and having more yogurts, fruits and nuts as snacks. I need to retrain my stomach to not yell at me when I haven't had anything to eat in 2 hours.

So that's the plan. Hopefully by the time Christmas rolls around, I won't be rolling around as much.